Lotus back on track with £2m profit
Group Lotus will today unveil profits of £2m in a dramatic turnaround following last year's near-£5m loss.The sports-car manufacturer and engineering consultancy, based in Hethel, saw turnover fall from £133m in 2006-07 to £108m in 2007-08, but improvements in efficiency, cost-cutting, “steady” car sales and increased third-party engineering consultancy resulted in the company posting its profits.
Group Lotus has unveiled profits of £2m in a dramatic turnaround following last year's near-£5m loss.
The sports-car manufacturer and engineering consultancy, based in Hethel, saw turnover fall from £133m in 2006-07 to £108m in 2007-08, but improvements in efficiency, cost-cutting, "steady" car sales and increased third-party engineering consultancy resulted in the company posting its profits.
Chief executive Mike Kimberley said: "I would like to thank all Lotus staff for their exceptional dedication and hard work to en-sure the effective turnaround of the business.
"We are also tracking our strategic five-year plan which enables Lotus to deliver an exciting new range of vehicles, develop and sell new advanced technologies through our extensive global operations and engineering client base and ultimately put Lotus on a greener and firmer footing and a consistently profitable commercial basis for the future."
The group has boosted its investment into research and development and new products by 95pc. This includes the development of the new Lotus Evora and updates to the Elise, the Exige, the Europa and the 2-Eleven.
The five-year plan will involve the launch of three new models, with the Evora being the first of them. The first deliveries of the Evora to dealers in the UK and Europe are due to take place in March.
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Mr Kimberley said the group's turnaround had followed a "realignment" of the business, with less emphasis on manufacturing and more on engineering, and so the group was looking for more than 40 engineers.
